#68 (Jealousy)

On the night of the premiere of Behind Desire, Yan Heyu didn’t have any dinner parties.

Kang Bo, being a detail-oriented person, knew what day it was and cleared his schedule in advance. He either moved up or postponed all work reports until the next day, ensuring his boss could be home before eight.

Wen Di was watching a variety show, with Wen Wen resting by her leg.

Yan Heyu took off his coat and hung it up, asking her if she had eaten.

“I have. I drank the fish soup,” Wen Di replied distractedly, her attention still on the TV.

Yan Heyu had instructed the auntie to make fish soup for Wen Di tonight.

On the night of the charity dinner, he and Wen Di had bought fish and other ingredients at the supermarket. When they got home and were about to cook, he realized they had no seasonings, so he went downstairs to buy some.

The fish soup was finally ready in the middle of the night, but Wen Di had already fallen into a daze and only managed to drink a few sips.

So he asked the auntie to make it again today.

Yan Heyu poured a glass of hot water for Wen Di and placed it on the coffee table before sitting down close to her.

Wen Wen was familiar with him now and would stick to him whenever he came home.

He picked Wen Wen up, stroked its fur, and then turned to Wen Di and said, “I’m taking Wen Wen home before the New Year.”

Wen Di didn’t say yes or no, but he took it as her silently agreeing.

Two minutes before the premiere of Behind Desire, their group chat became lively. Qin Xing @-ed everyone, reminding them to watch on time.

This was the first show Qin Xing had been involved with and followed throughout the entire process, so he was emotionally attached to it as if it were his own child.

Wen Di switched to another channel. The opening theme song happened to start just as she did. When the singer’s magnetic, low voice began to sing, her thoughts were pulled back to two and a half years ago.

At that time, she had just decided to write this show and took a trip to London. She even rode the London Eye again. The cabin was full of people taking pictures, but she was the only one staring blankly at the Thames. The liveliness had nothing to do with her.

During that time, the glamour in public and the suppression in private, the happiness and the pain, were all tangled together.

In the show, the female protagonist, played by Yin Ziyu, had a breakdown and cried. Wen Di had cried too, alone at night, for herself.

After crying, she felt much better.

But she couldn’t sleep, so she got up and turned on her computer, staying up late to write the script. She wrote a line for Yin Ziyu: “One good cry is enough. Crying a second time will affect your ability to earn money to buy pretty shoes.”

Just then, the opening theme ended, and the words “Episode 1” appeared on the screen.

Wen Di secretly took a deep breath. All the past sorrows and misfortunes came to an end with the premiere of this show. In the eyes of outsiders, the past three years had been a thrilling journey.

For her, the most exciting part was probably the premiere of Behind Desire tonight, as scheduled.

She had finally broken out of her cocoon.

Gu Heng’s arrogant and ruthless voice came from the TV: “What if you’re capable? It’s a shame you don’t have the power.”

Through the screen, Wen Di could feel Yin Ziyu holding her breath, with humiliation, resentment, and defiance in her eyes.

When they were filming this scene, Yin Ziyu had even said that she felt brutally crushed by Gu Heng in the show.

The plot had just begun, but Gu Heng’s opening scene already brought Xiao Donghan to life.

Zhou Mingqian created a perfect atmosphere for the scene. Every frame was like a high-definition movie.

Yin Ziyu herself was also watching the show. When they were filming, everything felt fragmented, and they didn’t shoot in chronological order. Watching it all put together now gave her a completely different feeling.

She was still immersed in her character’s resentment when the scene cut to another shot.

She didn’t even have the time or opportunity to be sad after being wronged in the show. She could only hurry to her next destination because she had to make a living and couldn’t lose her job.

Yin Ziyu sent a message to Wen Di: [Boss Wen, I really want to skip to the finale to get my revenge now.]

Wen Di laughed: [I suggest you don’t watch the show for a while. Your miserable life in the show has just begun.]

Yin Ziyu sent a “spitting blood” emoji: [Then I won’t watch it for now. It’ll affect my mood when I read the sweet script for The World Is Not as Good as You.]

The World Is Not as Good as You was set to start filming next week.

“Which episode has the scenes in my villa?” Yan Heyu asked Wen Di after finishing the first episode.

Wen Di, having just replied to Yin Ziyu’s message, turned to look at him. “It’s much later. Yin Ziyu’s character can only afford it once she has money. Right now, she’s even budgeting her rent.”

Yan Heyu used the commercial break to go to the wine cabinet and opened a bottle of red wine.

He didn’t think he would get hooked on the show, but he had watched the entire episode without realizing it. The plot was fast-paced, and the first episode already had two business traps.

Wen Di had struggled to write the emotional scenes during that period. She later revised the script to make up for the shortcomings, and the direction of the romance between Tan Moxing and Yin Ziyu’s characters also made people curious and eager to know more.

In the first episode, the only thing he didn’t like was the mansion of the Xiao family, which appeared in the second half.

Zhou Mingqian made the autumn scenery of the mansion so immersive that it created a sense of being there. If the Xiao family were to open up their mansion, many people would probably want to go visit after watching the show.

Yan Heyu poured two glasses of red wine and gave one to Wen Di. “The ratings and viewership of this show should surpass the TV series version of The World Is Not as Good as You.”

He was celebrating her success in advance.

Wen Di: “...Isn’t it a bit too early to celebrate? It’s only the first episode.”

“If I’m willing to watch it, others will too.”

Yan Heyu tilted his head slightly and finished the wine in his glass.

He watched the second episode with Wen Di.

After watching it, Yan Heyu took back his earlier comment that it “should” surpass the TV series version of The World Is Not as Good as You. It was not a “should”; it would definitely surpass any of her previous works and was even more profound.

Yan Heyu took Wen Wen to its bed and returned to Wen Di.

Wen Di was scrolling through social media. Gu Heng and Tan Moxing were already trending before the second episode was even over. It was their first time acting in the same show and they had many scenes together.

Viewers commented that a romance plot wasn’t important; they just wanted to watch the showdown between the two of them. Their acting was thrilling.

In this show, both Gu Heng and Tan Moxing were completely different from their previous on-screen personas.

Before the show aired, most viewers assumed that Tan Moxing’s character was a positive one. After watching, they realized he wasn’t a good person. He was just as ruthless and calculating.

He gave off a humble and low-key impression on the surface, but he was secretly very cunning and an excellent strategist, the biggest boss behind the scenes.

He was so good that he seemed worthy of entrusting your life to, but so bad that he made you question everything.

He was a gentle trap.

Gu Heng’s character, Xiao Donghan, completely subverted his previous positive roles.

People’s evaluations of Xiao Donghan’s character were mixed, with more negative reviews. The show didn’t deliberately glorify him. As some netizens said, Gu Heng’s portrayal of a refined villain was both evil and captivating, leaving people wanting more.

They wondered what it would feel like to be in a relationship with a man like that.

After just two episodes, it was clear that both the male lead and the second male lead were people who lived on the edge of desire. They were the ones who set the rules of the game, but they themselves operated outside of them.

“People in the group chat are asking me if the character played by Tan Moxing is based on me,” Yan Heyu said, looking at Wen Di after reading the group messages.

She had never written a script specifically for him. The World Is Not as Good as You wasn’t their love story; it just helped her believe that such love existed.

Wen Di looked up and asked back, “Do you think it’s you?”

Yan Heyu’s feeling after watching the show was, “It’s a little like me, but not completely.”

Wen Di: “The part that’s similar is the commonality of all businessmen.”

She had already made it very clear that it wasn’t him at all.

“Are you humble? Are you low-key?”

These traits didn’t really fit him. Yan Heyu said, “Aren’t I changing now?”

“When I was writing, we had been broken up for so long. I wouldn’t have used you as a prototype. Besides, you were still so arrogant back then, with a high and mighty attitude that others couldn’t even reach with a ladder, so it has nothing to do with you.”

“When I become humble, it will naturally have something to do with me.”

Yan Heyu sat next to her, pressing his nose against hers. They were so close that it was hard to see each other clearly.

He pushed her lips apart, making her heart race.

Wen Di knew he was jealous.

She raised her hands and wrapped them around his waist.

Yan Heyu picked her up and carried her upstairs. When they got to the bedroom, he didn’t turn on the lights and laid her down on the sofa, pressing her beneath him.

________________________________________

On the day Yan Heyu attended the business cocktail party, the movie The World Is Not as Good as You happened to start filming. Wen Di flew to Jiangcheng to attend the launch ceremony.

On his way to the party, Kang Bo received a message from the secretary of Director Liu of Huayuan Industrial, saying that a board meeting would be held next month to discuss expanding their production capacity and building a new production line.

Kang Bo forwarded the message to his boss. The boss wasn’t a visible board member and wouldn’t be attending the meeting, so Director Liu had instructed his secretary to inform him of the meeting’s content in advance.

From the looks of it, it seemed a bit like a blind expansion.

But with the significant increase in new orders for Huayuan Industrial over the past two years, their original production capacity was unable to meet market demands. Especially since Met Company had signed another six-hundred-million-dollar order on top of the original one, and it was said that more orders would be coming.

“Mr. Yan, what are your thoughts?”

Yan Heyu read the message and deleted it, then asked, “What else did Director Liu say?”

“He said he has it all figured out.”

“Let him be.”

In the face of such a huge temptation, who could remain truly indifferent?

Assistant Kang didn’t know what Director Liu meant by “having it all figured out.”

He had been following Behind Desire for the past few days, wanting to know how Tan Moxing would reverse the trap after taking the order.

But that part of the plot was likely in the middle to late section. It was only on the eighth episode now, so it was still early.

“Mr. Yan, Xiao Donghan will also be attending the party tonight.”

Yan Heyu nodded, but didn’t say anything else.

Whether they wanted to run into each other or not, they always would.

Yan Heyu’s first reaction when he saw Xiao Donghan was to look at his cufflinks. They were still the same ones that Wen Di had bought for him.

Was he planning on wearing the same pair of cufflinks for the rest of his life?

Then he reconsidered. If he wore them every day, they would eventually wear out and become unwearable.

Then let him wear them every day for now, and see how long they would last.

Xiao Donghan also saw him and toasted him from a distance.

As he raised his hand, the cufflinks became even more dazzling under the lights.

Yan Heyu slightly tilted his glass as a response.

They were not too far apart, and Yan Heyu could hear what Xiao Donghan was saying. He then heard Xiao Donghan say “a bunch of people” to the person next to him.

Yan Heyu wasn’t sure at first if that accent belonged to Xiao Donghan, but the tone of his voice was his.

Assistant Kang whispered to him, “Mr. Xiao might be learning to speak Beijing dialect recently.”

“Learning to sound like that?”

“...”

Yan Heyu suddenly regretted coming to the party. He was probably going to have nightmares tonight.

Later, they met again. This time, Xiao Donghan was deliberately speaking for Yan Heyu’s benefit. He was just taking a drink from a waiter’s tray and said, “I don’t want that one. Give me this one.”

Yan Heyu: “...”

He resisted the urge to just walk away.

Xiao Donghan came over, holding his wine glass and smiling wryly. “I’ve been learning a lot of Beijing dialect recently. For example, ‘you’re a scumbag’.”

Yan Heyu gripped his glass. “Why do you torture yourself? Doesn’t it sound painful to you?”

Xiao Donghan laughed. “It’s fun. You wouldn’t understand.”

He continued on his own, “I’ve started reading ancient costume scripts again recently.”

“You can understand them?”

“...I really couldn’t two years ago.”

Xiao Donghan was showing off that he could understand them now.

Yan Heyu didn’t want to bring him down, but he had walked right into it.

He guessed that Xiao Donghan was reading one of Wen Di’s ancient costume scripts. He quoted a line from it that Wen Di had taken from The Peach Blossom Fan: “‘The dream of a ruined mountain is the truest, the old scene is hard to let go, I don’t believe this map can be changed.’ Do you understand what that means?”

Xiao Donghan hadn’t gotten to that part yet.

Yan Heyu said, “There’s also the most famous line from The Peach Blossom Fan. You should have heard it. We can all learn from it.”

He was afraid of hearing Xiao Donghan’s Beijing accent again and turned to find other people.

Xiao Donghan called Secretary Lu over and asked him what the most famous line from The Peach Blossom Fan was.

Secretary Lu remembered. “It’s the one about ‘watching him build a tall tower.’“

Xiao Donghan said, “Mm,” and thoughtfully sipped his red wine.

Secretary Lu said, “Jiang Yunxing just called me and said Director Liu is preparing to invest in expanding the production line.” He wondered if Director Liu was slowly falling into the trap.

________________________________________

The next day, Yan Heyu had the day off. Wen Di was still in Jiangcheng and hadn’t returned, so he took Wen Wen home.

In the unfamiliar environment, Wen Wen was like a child, sticking to Yan Heyu, lying in his arms and looking around, unwilling to get down.

Yanyan was in a hurry, wanting to play with Wen Wen, and it circled Yan Heyu’s feet over and over.

Finally, with no other choice, it fetched its own little toy ball and played by itself, deliberately pushing the ball to Yan Heyu’s feet to attract Wen Wen’s attention, hoping Wen Wen would play with the toy with it.

Ye Minqiong gestured for Yan Hongjin to look at Yanyan. “It’s true that the nephew takes after the uncle. He knows how to go all out to get attention without being taught.”

Yan Heyu gave his mother a helpless look.

Yan Heyan laughed out loud. She had originally thought Yanyan would get angry and be hostile towards Wen Wen, but she was surprised they were getting along so well. Maybe they would start fighting once Wen Wen came down.

She called her father over. “Hold your granddaughter.”

Yan Hongjin smiled and said, “Let Wen Wen get used to the place.” Then he looked at his son. “When will I really get to hold my granddaughter? I’ve had the household register ready for a long time.”

Yan Heyan kicked her brother’s leg. “Are you going to Jiangcheng for the New Year this year?”

Yan Heyu: “Yes.”

Yan Heyan was planning to go after the New Year too. She had made a wish on the wishing tree in the old street of Jiangcheng. If her brother could reconcile with Wen Di, she would go back and fulfill her vow.

Two years had passed in a flash.

Speaking of Jiangcheng, Yan Hongjin thought of Secretary Liang. He asked his son, “Did you really ask Secretary Liang to be your matchmaker?” He had asked Secretary Liang to introduce him to the Wen family, hoping to get a chance to meet Wen Di.

Yan Heyu didn’t answer, but it was true.

At that time, Wen Di wasn’t with Xiao Donghan yet. He had asked Secretary Liang to set up a connection, but before Secretary Liang had time to talk to Wen Changyun about it, Wen Di got together with Xiao Donghan.

Later, when he heard that Wen Di had broken up with him, Secretary Liang went to Wen Changyun again to bring it up.

He didn’t know what happened after that.

“Hey, Brother, I just had a brilliant idea.” Yan Heyan sat up straight and offered her brother some advice. “The Wen family is a big family. When they get together, they’ll definitely speak in the Jiangcheng dialect. You should learn to speak it. If you really learn it, your favorability will shoot up. Trust me, it’s a surefire way.”

Yan Heyu said, “I’m learning.”

“Really?” Yan Heyan lightly kicked her brother. “Say a few sentences for us.”

Yan Heyu didn’t. He felt it wasn’t authentic enough yet. If he spoke now, it would have the same effect as Xiao Donghan speaking Beijing dialect—it would be scary.

The Jiangcheng dialect was much harder than the Beijing accent. Southern dialects were all difficult to understand. After learning the Jiangcheng dialect for more than half a year, he could now understand most of the Shanghai dialect.

“Who are you learning from? Did Fan Zhisen find you a local teacher from Jiangcheng?”

“No, I’m learning from our neighbor in Jiangcheng, Mr. Huang.”

He used his lunch break to learn from Mr. Huang. He had been taking lessons since May, and he hadn’t stopped unless there was a special circumstance.

Yan Heyu stayed at the old family home for the day and took Wen Wen back to the villa before dark.

He sent Wen Di a few short videos, all related to Wen Wen.

Wen Di had just left the set and opened the videos. They showed Yan Heyu’s parents playing with Wen Wen. She still really liked the family atmosphere in Yan Heyu’s home, and Yan Heyu was not shy about playing the emotional card from time to time.

Yan Heyu asked her: [When are you coming back after you finish work?]

Wen Di wasn’t sure yet. She was the one who could communicate with the team about coordinating locations more easily. [I’ll come back before the New Year to pick Wen Wen up so she can celebrate with us.]

Yan Heyu: [Don’t run back and forth. I’ll take Wen Wen there. I’m going to the industrial park’s New Year’s gathering anyway.]

He had already applied for a flight route in advance. On the day he flew back to Jiangcheng, he took all of Wen Wen’s familiar belongings. Wen Wen didn’t make a fuss the whole way and lay obediently on his lap.

At that moment, he wondered if he had a daughter, would she be so attached to him. He used to not be envious of what others had, but now he was a little envious of Jiang Chengyu’s twins.

When the plane landed in Jiangcheng, Wen Di came to pick him up.

Wen Di asked him, “How many days are you staying in Jiangcheng?”

Yan Heyu: “I probably won’t go back before the New Year.”

He was staying in Jiangcheng for the New Year again.

Wen Di tried to persuade him to go back. “It’s boring to spend the New Year alone. You should go to your grandpa’s house and your grandpa’s house to be with family.”

Yan Heyu was vague. “We’ll see.”

Wen Di walked straight to her car, opened the door, and took out a gift box. She planned to take Wen Wen straight back to her grandpa’s house and wasn’t going to ride back with him.

She gave him the gift. “Happy New Year in advance.”

Yan Heyu was pleasantly surprised. “Thank you.”

He took the gift and, in one fluid motion, put his arm around her.

Back in the car, Yan Heyu opened the gift box. It was a pair of New Year couplets that she had written. She hadn’t copied her grandpa’s handwriting; it was her own style.

Her New Year’s wish for him was all written in these couplets.

In the past, she would buy dozens of gifts for him at once during holidays, and she couldn’t even remember what she had given him. Now, she was willing to carefully prepare just one gift for him.

He was attending the group gathering tomorrow and was sure to run into Wen Changyun and even sit at the same table as him.

Yan Heyu asked for advice in the group chat from his friends who used to be disliked by their fathers-in-law: [How did you all get past your parents-in-law?]

Some people in the group acted like they had amnesia: [Besides you, is there anyone else who’s disliked?]

Yan Heyu: [Do I have to name names? I remember all of you.]

Qin Xing, who loved to watch the drama, added: [Tell us a couple of stories.]

They teased Yan Heyu for a while, but in the end, they took pity on him and brainstormed ideas. As for which experience would be useful for him, they told him to improvise on the spot.

The next day, Yan Heyu arrived at the New Year’s gathering twenty minutes early.

Fan Zhisen was waiting for him at the entrance to go in together. “Old friend Wen is here. I just called him.”

When they got to the banquet hall, Yan Heyu greeted everyone he knew and then went to his table.

He, Fan Zhisen, and Wen Changyun were at the same table, but their seats were different.

In a setting like this, everyone, with a shared understanding, would find a seat that matched the strength of their company and wouldn’t sit just anywhere.

The empty main seat was clearly for Yan Heyu.

Yan Heyu gently pulled out his chair, looked at Wen Changyun, and said, “Dad, come sit here.”

Wen Changyun was stunned for a moment.

Fan Zhisen wasn’t confused. He gave a little push. “Old friend Wen, the boy is asking you to sit here. Why are you so shy?”

Everyone else at the table realized that the word “Dad” was for Wen Changyun. They all knew Yan Heyu was pursuing Wen Changyun’s daughter, but they hadn’t expected things to progress so quickly.

They joined in the fun. “Director Wen, come quickly. You sitting in that seat is really making things difficult for the young man.”

In an instant, Yan Heyu went from being “Mr. Yan” to the junior member of Wen Changyun’s family.

Just like that, Wen Changyun was enthusiastically pushed by everyone to Yan Heyu’s seat, and Yan Heyu respectfully sat down next to him.

Yan Heyu drank half a glass of warm water before he calmed down. His heart was beating so fast that he almost couldn’t hear what people around him were saying.

The advice from the group chat was useful after all.